# E. J. Viso

Ernesto José "E. J." Viso Lossada (born March 19, 1985) is a Venezuelan professional racing driver. He has raced in the 2005 and 2006 GP2 Series seasons, and has also driven the third car for Spyker MF1 Racing. In 2007 he competed in the GP2 Series for Racing Engineering. In 2014 he made his season debut for the Stadium Super Trucks in the Long Beach Grand Prix. He most recently drove for Andretti Autosport in the IndyCar Series.

## Career
### Early racing

Born in Caracas, Viso spent time in his early career in both Europe and America. He attended Rolling Hills Prep high school in California. Viso's career started in karting back in 1993, where he stayed until 2001 when he moved to US Barber Formula Dodge East, becoming champion with confidence. He also raced in the Italian Formula Renault Winter Series at the end of that year, moving to British Formula Renault for 2002. In 2002 he also drove in one race of Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup, and at the end of the year in the British Formula 3 Winter Series.
2003 saw a move to British Formula 3, where he raced in the B-Class and became champion after a controversial collision with his main rival during the final race of the season. He then moved to the main class in 2004, racing part of the season for the P1 team, his performances attracting the attention of F3000 team Durango who lured him to the series for the remainder of the season.

### GP2

In 2005, he raced in the inaugural season of the GP2 Series for the BCN Competicion team, alongside Hiroki Yoshimoto. In 2006, he again raced in the GP2 Series for the iSport team. He won the San Marino Sunday race and the Spain Sunday race. He also drove the third Spyker MF1 Team car in the Friday practice sessions of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Before the 2007 French Grand Prix, it was confirmed that Ernesto Viso would replace the underperforming Sérgio Jimenez at Racing Engineering. His race ended on the first lap in a spectacular collision with Michael Ammermüller and Kazuki Nakajima in which his car somersaulted over the barriers at tremendous speed, smashing through an advertising hoarding and narrowly missing a bridge (as luck would have it, hitting the board saved him from clouting the bridge and probably more severe injuries), leaving him only a severe concussion and painful arm. This crash was very similar to the one of Marco Campos that happened on the same track in 1995, leading to Campos's death. Campos died of severe head trauma after hitting his head on the concrete barrier. Viso was only inches away from the same fate. For the British round, he was replaced by Filipe Albuquerque. Viso took part in the following race meeting, but was then replaced by Marcos Martinez.

### IndyCar Series

Viso competed in the newly united IndyCar Series in 2008 for HVM Racing. He made his first series start in the first oval race of his career on March 29. His next start, at St. Petersburg, was a superb performance ending with a fourth-place finish. At Milwaukee he ended with an eighth place. Shortly after the Watkins Glen race (in which he finished 10th but forced Vítor Meira off the track, causing Meira to run back onto the track to confront Viso on the next lap) he was diagnosed with the mumps and was forced to withdraw from the next race. Viso finished 18th overall in the 2008 series and has signed a contract to drive for HVM in 2009. On February 21, 2010 KV Racing confirmed that Viso would drive the No. 8 car for the team for the entire 2010 season.
For the 2011 IndyCar campaign, Viso remained with KV Racing. He showed flashes of speed, particularly in Brazil where he was in contention for a win. He remained one of the more accident-prone drivers in the series, which led to questions about his seat for 2012 . Viso finished 18th in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship on the strength of four top-10 finishes with a season best seventh place showing in Texas Race No. 2.
For 2013 Viso remained in the IndyCar Series with Andretti Autosport, in the No. 5 with sponsorship from oil company PDVSA, recording a best finish of 4th at Milwaukee and finishing 15th in the final points standings.
In 2014, Viso failed to find an IndyCar drive. In May, he was called in by Andretti Autosport to take part in practice for the Indianapolis 500 while James Hinchcliffe recovered from a concussion suffered at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Viso drove in the first four days of practice, and led the speed charts on the third day, before Hinchcliffe was cleared to drive in time for Fast Friday practice.

### Stadium Super Trucks

In 2014, Viso made his Stadium Super Trucks series debut in Long Beach, California where he finished 2nd after a last lap battle with series founder Robby Gordon. On May 30, Viso got his first ever win in an SST on only his second ever series appearance at the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, where he finished 1st ahead of Robby Gordon in an eventful last lap finish. Viso also captured his second win a day later beating 16-year-old Scotty Steele. Viso swept all three Detroit events on June 1, and won race 1 at Coronado. The Venezuelan finished fifth in the season standings.

## Driving style

During his stay in IndyCar, Viso was known for his very aggressive driving style, which resulted in a large retirement rate due to contact, and repeated criticism from his fellow competitors.

## Personal life

During his racing career, Viso rode unicycles as a hobby.

## Racing record
### Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | DC | Points |
| 2004 | Durango Corse | IMO | CAT | MON | NUR | MAG 8 | SIL 11 | HOC 7 | HUN 6 | SPA 10 | MNZ 8 | 12th | 7 |

### Complete GP2 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | DC | Points |
| 2005 | BCN Competición | IMO FEA 10 | IMO SPR DNS | CAT FEA Ret | CAT SPR Ret | MON FEA DSQ | NÜR FEA Ret | NÜR SPR 11 | MAG FEA 11 | MAG SPR 8 | SIL FEA 15 | SIL SPR 13 | HOC FEA DSQ | HOC SPR 12 | HUN FEA 6 | HUN SPR Ret | IST FEA 14 | IST SPR 12 | MNZ FEA Ret | MNZ SPR Ret | SPA FEA 2 | SPA SPR 3 | BHR FEA 8 | BHR SPR 2 | 11th | 21 |
| 2006 | iSport International | VAL FEA 8 | VAL SPR 2 | IMO FEA 6 | IMO SPR 1 | NÜR FEA 6 | NÜR SPR 11 | CAT FEA 8 | CAT SPR 1 | MON FEA Ret | SIL FEA Ret | SIL SPR 8 | MAG FEA 10 | MAG SPR Ret | HOC FEA 4 | HOC SPR 4 | HUN FEA 4 | HUN SPR 4 | IST FEA Ret | IST SPR 13 | MNZ FEA Ret | MNZ SPR 10 | | | 6th | 42 |
| 2007 | Racing Engineering | BHR FEA | BHR SPR | CAT FEA | CAT SPR | MON FEA | MAG FEA Ret | MAG SPR DNS | SIL FEA | SIL SPR | NÜR FEA 14 | NÜR SPR 8 | HUN FEA | HUN SPR | IST FEA | IST SPR | MNZ FEA | MNZ SPR | SPA FEA | SPA SPR | VAL FEA | VAL SPR | | | 29th | 0 |

### Complete Formula One participations

(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | WDC | Points |
| 2006 | Spyker MF1 Racing | Spyker M16 | Toyota V8 | BHR | MAL | AUS | SMR | EUR | ESP | MON | GBR | CAN | USA | FRA | GER | HUN | TUR | ITA | CHN | JPN | BRA TD | – | – |

### American open–wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

#### IndyCar Series

| Year | Team | Chassis | No. | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Rank | Points |
| 2008 | HVM Racing | Dallara IR-05 | 33 | Honda | HMS 17 | STP 4 | MOT$^1$ DNP | | KAN 14 | INDY 26 | MIL 8 | TXS 14 | IOW 13 | RIR 10 | WGL 10 | NSH$^3$ Wth | MDO 22 | EDM 15 | KTY 13 | SNM 6 | DET 24 | CHI 23 | SRF$^2$ 6 | 18th | 286 |
| 2008 | HVM Racing | Panoz DP01 | 33 | Cosworth XFE | | | | LBH$^1$ 9 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 18th | 286 |
| 2009 | HVM Racing | Dallara IR-05 | 13 | Honda | STP 17 | LBH 23 | KAN 21 | INDY 24 | MIL 18 | TXS 24 | IOW 20 | RIR 12 | WGL 7 | TOR 13 | EDM 12 | KTY 15 | MDO 15 | SNM 22 | CHI 17 | MOT 15 | HMS 16 | | | 18th | 248 |
| 2010 | KV Racing Technology | Dallara IR-05 | 8 | Honda | SAO 12 | STP 17 | ALA 16 | LBH 15 | KAN 27 | INDY 25 | TXS 11 | IOW 3 | WGL 11 | TOR 19 | EDM 8 | MDO 26 | SNM 19 | CHI 27 | KTY 26 | MOT 15 | HMS 19 | | | 17th | 262 |
| 2011 | KV Racing Technology-Lotus | Dallara IR-05 | 59 | Honda | STP 19 | ALA 23 | LBH 25 | SAO 13 | INDY 32 | TXS 7 | TXS 10 | MIL 20 | IOW 17 | TOR 9 | EDM 20 | MDO 15 | NHM 12 | SNM 9 | BAL 15 | MOT 21 | KTY 23 | LVS$^4$ C | | 18th | 241 |
| 2012 | KV Racing Technology | Dallara DW12 | 5 | Chevrolet | STP 8 | ALA 18 | LBH 12 | SAO 9 | INDY 18 | DET 18 | TXS 19 | MIL 5 | IOW 24 | TOR 20 | EDM 16 | MDO 20 | SNM 16 | BAL 9 | FON 25 | | | | | 20th | 244 |
| 2013 | Andretti Autosport | Dallara DW12 | 5 | Chevrolet | STP 7 | ALA 12 | LBH 22 | SAO 6 | INDY 18 | DET 17 | DET 17 | TXS 10 | MIL 4 | IOW 10 | POC 21 | TOR 14 | TOR 5 | MDO 17 | SNM 14 | BAL 13 | HOU 9 | HOU 16 | FON$^5$ | 15th | 340 |
    $^1$ Run on same day.
    $^2$ Non-points-paying, exhibition race.
    $^3$ Pulled out of race after contracting mumps
    $^4$ The Las Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned after Dan Wheldon died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.
    $^5$ Missed race after falling ill due to eating bad oysters. Replaced by Carlos Muñoz.
| Years | Teams | Races | Poles | Wins | Podiums (Non-win) | Top 10s (Non-podium) | Indianapolis 500 Wins | Championships |
| 6 | 3 | 99 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 0 | 0 |

#### Indianapolis 500

| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
| 2008 | Dallara | Honda | 26 | 26 | HVM Racing |
| 2009 | Dallara | Honda | 29 | 24 | HVM Racing |
| 2010 | Dallara | Honda | 19 | 25 | KV Racing Technology |
| 2011 | Dallara | Honda | 18 | 32 | KV Racing Technology |
| 2012 | Dallara | Chevrolet | 9 | 18 | KV Racing Technology |
| 2013 | Dallara | Chevrolet | 4 | 18 | Andretti Autosport/ HVM Racing |

### Complete American Le Mans Series results

| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | Tyres | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Rank | Points |
| 2012 | CORE Autosport | PC | Oreca FLM09 | Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8 | M | SEB ovr:12 cls:1 | LNB | MON | LIM | MOS | MID | AME | BAL | VIR | PET | 15th | 24 |

### Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Rank | Points |
| 2014 | Starworks Motorsport | P | Riley Mk XXVI DP | Dinan (BMW) 5.0 L V8 | DAY 17 | SEB | LBH | LGA | DET | WGL | MOS | IMS | ELK | COA | PET | 55th | 15 |

### Stadium Super Trucks

(key) (Bold – Pole position. Italics – Fastest qualifier. * – Most laps led.)
Stadium Super Trucks results :
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | SSTC | Pts |
| 2014 | STP | STP | LBH 2* | IMS | IMS | DET 1* | DET 1* | DET 1 | AUS 15 | TOR | TOR | OCF 3 | OCF 10 | CSS 5 | LVV 10* | LVV 10 | | | | | | | 5th | 280 |
| 2015 | ADE 1* | ADE 4 | ADE 10 | STP 4* | STP 5 | LBH 1* | DET 2* | DET 1 | DET 5 | AUS 7 | TOR 8 | TOR 9 | OCF Rpl$^†$ | OCF Rpl$^†$ | OCF Rpl$^†$ | SRF | SRF | SRF | SRF | SYD | LVV | LVV | 6th | 344 |
| 2016 | ADE | ADE | ADE | STP | STP | LBH | LBH | DET 8 | DET C$^1$ | DET 2 | TOW 10* | TOW 7 | TOW 1* | TOR | TOR | CLT | CLT | OCF | OCF | SRF | SRF | SRF | 14th | 99 |
| $^†$ – "Mad" Mike Whiddett drove Viso's truck, with all points earned by Whiddett going to Viso |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
$^1$ The race was abandoned after Matt Mingay suffered serious injuries in a crash on lap three.